Sheet-metal-bendina machine



C. P. BUCK,

SHEET METAL BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25 I918.

' Patented ept. 30, 1919.

v v 2 $HEETSSHEET I BaNvENToR RP N 'c. P. BUCK.

SHEET METAL BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. I918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET'Z.

N I O i 4,

INVENTOR I U/zarffi Z. I

. W 4 ATTORNEY Paten tedaS'e p t. 30,191

UNITED STA CHARLES P. BUCK, OF EUREKA, KANSAS.

SHEET-METAL-BENDING MACHINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

iatenterl Sept. 39, 1919.

Application filed. February 25, 1918. Serial No. 220,086,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES P. BUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at'To peka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal-Bending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to flanged sheet metal bending machines, and has for its obj ect to produce a machine by which flanged flat plates or sheets may be transformed into uniformly-curved plates without changing the width of the plates or flanges or the angular relation of the latter, so that all of the plates shall be interchangeable.

With these objects in vlew, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which 2- Figure 1, is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, of a machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2, is a side view of the machine. Fig. 3, is a central vertical section of the machine. i

In the said drawing, 1 indicates a pair of vertical side frames connected rigidly together by a plurality of tie-bolts 2, engaged at opposite sides of each frame by retaining nuts 3. Extending from one side frame to the other and j ournaled therein, is a master roller 4, provided adjacent the. inner faces of the side frames, with flanges 5,. one of the journal spindles 6 of said roller, being also journaled in a drive gear stand7, and equipped at such end with a gear wheel 8, meshing with a drive gear pinion 9,-journaled on a stub-shaft 10, of the gear stand, and rotatable with a suitably-driven gear wheel 11, the driving mechanism for which is omitted as it; may be of any approved type and is not claimed herein.

Each side of the rigid framework constituted by the frames 1 and said tie-bolts, is provided with a'central slot 12, wherein fits slidingly a journal boxing 13, which boxings are rigidly connected by a pressureroll beam 14. Underlying and supporting said boxings and beam, and occupying said slots, are heavy coiled springs 15, which rest upon the heads or enlargements of apair of bolts 16, engaging the sides 1. of the,

framework, and fitting in openings 17 of the latter and engaging said bolts, are nuts or collars 18, rotation of which eflects upward or downward adjustment of the bolts and hence of the pressure roll beam, by increasing or relaxing the tension of the springs and the upward pressure thereof against said boxings.

A pressure roller 19, underlies the master roller 4, and has reduced ends or spindles 2O journaled in the boxings 13. It is also reduced at its center and at such point is ournaled in an arm 14, projecting upward from the beam 14, though for handling narrow plates or sheets, the central journal is not essential as there would be sufficient rigidity in the machine without it.

The roller 19, is provided with flanges 21, for engaging the outer faces of flanges 5 of the roller 4, to hold said rollers in fixed relation with narrow spaces 22 between the inner faces of flanges 5 and the abrupt ends.

'io insure proper rotation of the roller 19 with respect to the master roller 4, a gear wheel 24, on one of the spindles 6. of the former, meshes with a proportionatelysmaller gear wheel 25, onone reduced end or spindle20 of roller 19. A gear wheel 26, on the other spindle of roller 4, is intergeared with a pair of gearwheels 27 (one only appearing) on the adjacent reduced ends or spindles of a pair of forming rollers 28, journaled in boxings 29, at opposite sides of the central slots 12, said boxings 29 being adjustable in parallel relation with boxings 13, in slots 30, in the sides of the framework, by means of screws 31, socketed at their upper ends in boxings 29 and at their lower.

ends in rigid bearing plates 32, secured to the sides of the framework at the lower ends of slots 30.

.To impart rotation to the screws 31 for raising or'lowering the boxings 29 and rollers 28, and thereby impart greater or less curvature to the plates or sheets operated upon by the machine, bevel gears. 33, are secured on the screws 31 andar'e engaged by bevel gears 34, on the outer ends of short shafts 35, journaled in bearing brackets 36,

secured to the sides of the framework, and equipped with handwheels 87.

The rollers 28 correspond in length to the roller 19, and like the latter are provided with circumferential grooves 38, for the accommodation of the flanges of the plates or sheets to be, operated upon.

A pair of guide roller arms 39 adJacent the outer faces of the sides of the frame work, extend upwardly and forwardly beyond the front edges of the framework, the rear ends of said being pivoted on the opposite ends of the roller 19,,and said arm-S. are provided with'rectangular openings 40, through which the spindles of the. foremost roller 28; project. 41 bear arjournaledrelation to the spindles of said roller and fit'slidingly within said openings, to. accommodate movement of the said arms induced by up and down adjustment of the pressure roller 19. The said arms are connected rigidly together by a v tie-bolt 4:2, and at their front ends carry a is disposed upon the guide roller with its marginal flanges depending at opposite ends of: said roller orv Within a pair of the circumferential grooves 45 thereof, and thus supin a direction ported is fed into the machine upon the foremost roller: 28, and thence between the master roller and the pressure roller 19, the flanges of the plate of course occupying the same relation to rollers 28 and 19 as described with respect to roller 44. The plate when once between the master and pressure rollers is subjected to heavy pressure andthenceforth isfed by said rollers to and over the rearmost forming roller 28, it being noted that the distance which the under most point of the. face of roller 4 projects below the plane of the uppermost points of rollers 28, determines the are or degree of curvature to which the plate is bent. In this connection it will be understood that vthe yieldingly-elev'ate'd roller 19 offers a resistance sufficient to maintain the plate undersuch heavy pressure just below the roller 4, that the plate is capable of stretching 7 parallel only with its flanges and not transversely thereof, and this resistance to transverse distortion or stretch- Boxings ing of the plate is augmented by the provision of spaces or grooves between the two rollers or in the roller 19according to the width of the plate-just wide enough for the reception of the flanges of the plate. The roller 19 is therefore one of the most important elements of the machine," as

through its use the plates when completed,

are absolutely uniform not only in width 7 and in the angular relation or disposition of its flanges, but in the width or depth of the flanges themselves, which fact with, respect tothe flanges, is of great importance in that the bolt holes therein, notgshown, will register when the plates are-fitted together in the erection of an oil tank, silo or the like. Heretofore flanged plate bend. ing machines, as far as my knowledge extends, have not been equippedwith the pres: i

sure roller 19 between rollers 28 vand below the master roller, and in consequence it frequently occurred that distortion affecting the width of the plate, the angularrelatiori of the flanges and in the depthof thev latter resulted. Because of this completed: or curved plates were not invariably interchangeable and the defective. plates would. 7

have. to bediscarded or worked over at con siderable expense and trouble to match them herein shown and parent that I have produced a machine em- 7 -7 bodying the features of advantage set forth as desirable, and while the preferred form" is shown and described, it will be understood that all changes in the form andg organization of the parts properly falling within the spirit and: scope of the appended claims are within the purviewof my inven-; tion. I

Iclaim: r I

1. Asheet'metal bending machine com-1' prising a framework having in-each side a pair of openings, boxings adjustable in parallel planes in said openings, a pair'of parallel forming rollers journaled atitheir ends in said boxings, pressure rollers in a plane between and eX- tending parallel with the forming rollers, means holding said 1 superposed-c rollers pressed yieldingly toward each other, a pair superposed master and of arms pivoted at their rear ends on the a 2 ends of the pressure roller and provided with elongated rectangular openings, boxings journaled on the opposite ends'of one of the forming rollers and fittingsl-idingly in said rectangular openings of i the said arms, and a guide roller journaled-inthe front ends of said arms and extending parallel with the other rollers.

2. A sheet metal bending machine comprising a framework having in each side a pair of openings, boXings adjustable in parallel planes insaid openings, a pair of parallel forming rollers journaled at their ends in said boxings, superposed master and pressure rollers in a plane between and extending parallel with the forming rollers, means holding said superposed rollers pressed yieldingly toward each other, a pair of arms pivoted at their rear ends on the ends of the pressure roller and provided Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the with elongated rectangular openings, boxings journaled on the opposite ends of one of the forming rollers and fitting slidingly in said rectangular openings of the said arms, a guide roller journaled in the front ends of said arms and extending parallel with the other rollers, and a pressure beam underlying and movable up and down with the pressure roller and forming a journal bearing for the central portion of said roller.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES P. BUCK.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

